Airmen need commander approval before eye surgery

  • Published
  • By Beth Young
  • 75th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Advancements in laser eye surgeries have made it possible for those with vision problems to get rid of their eye glasses and contact lenses. Before military members talk to their doctor, they need to talk to their commander.

"Because it is so easy to do, they don't think of it as a surgery," said Maj. (Dr.) Marvin Acquistapace, 75th Optometry Flight commander. "It hasn't been really frequent but there have been several cases where people have gotten refractive surgery done on the civilian side, and it impacted their ability to be deployed."

Because an adverse outcome or an extended recovery time could make them non-deployable, military members must get written approval from their squadron commander before getting any type of laser eye surgery, he said.

Although laser eye surgery, most commonly know as Lasik or PRK is not covered by TRICARE, there is a military program that provides it for active duty members who qualify. However, they still have the option of choosing to pay for themselves with a private doctor.

"There are just certain things they have to do beforehand that they don't know about," Major Acquistapace said. "There has always been a regulation for elective surgeries but a lot of people just don't know about it."

For those planning on getting the procedure, after getting written permission from their commander, they must talk to the health benefits advisor at the Hill Air Force Base Clinic. Within three days of having the surgery, the military member must have post operative testing to ensure they still meet vision standards. They also must have their records of their procedure sent to the clinic so it can be added to their medical records.

While the Lasik version of laser eye surgery may be done over a weekend, recovery from the PRK procedure may take up to a week and may require medication for up to four months. Any absences from work because of laser surgery require regular leave to be taken.

"If you are going to have the surgery, the best thing to do is ask the doctor what the potential negative outcomes are and how much time, if that happens, before I would be ready to go back to my job," Major Acquistapace said.

Although it's rare, Major Acquistapace said that an adverse outcome to a laser eye surgery done outside the military can cause a military member to become ineligible to continue their service depending on their job and the level of vision loss.

"People are not realizing that if you have this done outside the military that it's your responsibility if there is a poor outcome," he said. "We love to have people come here because if we send them to one of the military centers and there is an adverse outcome, we know the military is going to take care of them."

Since 2001, the Air Force has performed almost 50,000 corneal refractive surgeries with 99.7 percent visual acuity of 20/40 at six months. There are several centers around the country. The nearest to Hill AFB is at the Air Force Academy located in Colorado.

"It used to be up to an 18-month wait to get into one of the centers," Major Acquistapace said. "Now it's as short as zero. The longest is four months."

For question about laser eye surgery, Major Acquistapace encourages military members to call the Hill AFB Optometry Flight at 777-4832. The health benefits advisor, Julie Sanders can be reached at 777-6670.